Steward: Darting here and there ...

-- It might be better to have Landon Donovan off the U.S. World Cup roster now than on the bench in Brazil and seeing endless sideline shots of him looking pensive and prickly.

-- Jurgen Klinsmann said from the outset that Donovan only had a chance at forward. And for the here and now, we'd take Chris Wondolowski under those terms, too.

-- It's a cold truism in any professional sport: What have you done lately? In Donovan's case, his sabbatical during Cup qualifying got him off on the wrong foot (obligatory soccer pun there). And in seven games with the L.A. Galaxy this year? Zero goals.

-- That said, the Donovan slam by Klinsmann's son on Twitter: classless. Worse yet for a lad headed for Cal, he misspelled Landon's last name (Donavan). Nice job, kid.

-- The soccer aficionado in us -- which is mostly in our left pinkie -- is more worried about Michael Parkhurst and Clarence Goodson being left off the U.S. World Cup team. The back line and midfield will be far more critical than up front.

-- Bottom line, if dual citizen Julian Green is a 22-year-old stud on the 2018 U.S. team instead of playing for Germany in four years, Klinsmann will be off the hook.

-- Actually, it won't take that long if the United States beats Ghana on June 16. That's still the big judgment day for Klinsmann as U.S. coach, whether Donovan is on the team or not.

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-- Brandon Moss, 40 RBIs in the A's first 47 games. Astounding. That's a pace for 138. Oakland hasn't had a 100-RBI man since Frank Thomas in 2006.

-- The A's entered Friday with baseball's best record but also entered a stretch in which they play 22 consecutive games against teams currently over .500. So let's chat again about their omnipotence around June 15.

-- As fabulous as Oakland has been, particularly the starting pitching in the wake of losing Jarrod Parker and A.J. Griffin, admit that your knuckles get whiter when the game is turned over to the bullpen, regardless of score.

-- Brandon Crawford was one of the Giants who listened most intently to Barry Bonds this spring. Just saying.

-- So who does Santiago Casilla think he is running that hard to first base, Jean Machi?

-- Tony La Russa, friend to animals. Cats. Dogs. And now, in his new gig as Arizona baseball overlord, rattlesnakes.

-- Jeff Samardzija may be the definitive hard-luck pitcher of all time: 10 starts, 1.46 ERA, two homers allowed in 68 innings, 1.09 WHiP ... and 0-4 record with the Cubs, who are 1-9 in Samardzija's starts. His warm-up music should be the Animals' "We Gotta Get Out Of This Place."

-- But of course, it was the Cubs who also beat the Yankees and ended Masahiro Tanaka's 34-game professional winning streak and 42-game unbeaten run. All together now: That's baseball!

-- The sorry saga of the Dodgers' organization of late -- bat flips and chewed-off ears. But be wary. At this point last year, they were still eight games under .500.

-- Steve Kerr wants assistants with head coaching experience? Wow, off the top, there's a pretty big pool of ex-Warriors head coaches to choose from (Musselman, Smart, St. Jean, Carlesimo, Cowens just to name a few).

-- Would Kevin Love better combat Blake Griffin than David Lee? Griffin scored 32 against Love in their last meeting this season. But Love went for 45 points, 19 rebounds and six assists.

-- The Warriors really don't want to give up Klay Thompson -- and it would be hard to see him go -- but that may be the sacrifice required to pry Love from Minnesota. Upside: Stephen Curry would have a much larger splash brother.

-- Better with pingpong balls than basketballs, maybe the Cleveland Cavaliers should just start hanging lottery banners. Either that, or consider relocating to Las Vegas.

-- Finally, 49ers fans, what's your breaking point on the nonstop airing of that Russell Wilson commercial for Microsoft? Getting your hair cut at least eight times a day seems a bit excessive, eh?